Higher education • Students at UVU and SLCC will see a 6% boost due to declining enrollment.

By Lindsey Whitehurst The Salt Lake Tribune

Published March 29, 2013 10:05 pm

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Sandy • The Utah Board of Regents signed off on tuition increases of 5 percent at most public colleges and universities Friday.

Two colleges dealing with enrollment declines, Salt Lake Community College and Utah Valley University, will add an additional 1 percent increase for a total bump of 6 percent.

"This is the lowest increase in a decade [at many schools] and yet we are aware that college is increasingly expensive," said David Buhler, Utah commissioner for higher education.

Colleges won't have to raise tuition as much next year in part because they are getting more money from the state  ongoing funding for higher education went up 6 percent this year.

Tuition at Utah colleges and universities has risen sharply in recent years as state funding was cut by 13.4 percent during the recession. "Like almost every other state in the country, we've seen a shift in responsibility from the Legislature onto the students," Buhler said.